PennantPark Floating Rate (NASDAQ: PFLT) announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, November 18. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Wednesday's Q4 earnings announcement. What Are Earnings, Net Income, And Earnings Per Share?

Earnings and especially earnings per share (EPS) are useful measures of a company's profitability. Total earnings, which is also referred to as net income, equals total revenue minus total expenses. EPS equals to net income divided by the number of shares outstanding. Earnings And Revenue

Sell-side analysts expect PennantPark Floating Rate's EPS to be near $0.26 on sales of $21.87 million. In the same quarter last year, PennantPark Floating Rate reported EPS of $0.29 on revenue of $23.88 million. What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

Analysts who cover this company will publish forward-looking estimates of its revenue and EPS each quarter. Averaging together every EPS and revenue prediction that each analyst makes about a company in a quarter yields the "consensus estimates." A company posting earnings or revenue above or below the consensus estimate is known as an "earnings surprise" and may move the stock by a considerable margin.

The Wall Street estimate would represent a 10.34% decline in the company's earnings. Revenue would be down 8.42% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past: Stock Performance

Shares of PennantPark Floating Rate were trading at $9.27 as of November 16. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 22.29%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably upset going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. PennantPark Floating Rate is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.